Can I help it if I am FABULOUS?!

It began with a mid-morning nap... not my normal MO, but what I did this morning nonetheless. When I FINALLY got out of bed on the late side, I noticed an odd beeping sound coming from upstairs the moment my feet hit the ground. In my sleepy state, it took me a minute to figure out what that sound was - the alarm - the house alarm was going off. Apparently R and D went out and forgot about my being downstairs because I am RARELY there, and so they set the alarm prior to leaving. I ran upstairs to punch the code in, but alas, it did not work. It was super-loud up there, and to add to the noise, the phone began to ring. I knew instinctively that it was the security company, checking to see what had triggered the alarm. After I got off the phone with her, I went back to the little alarm box and tried the code again. This time it worked (thankfully). Since I was already upstairs, I decided to make lunch - tomato soup - and then headed back down to my room to watch "House" online while eating lunch. The phone began to ring again and someone was POUNDING on the sliding glass doors in the back. I assumed correctly that it was the police. After the first two came in the back door, they opened the front door and let two more policemen in. After I gave them the phone numbers to the house's owners and my work creds (as ID because I couldn't find my license), they apologized for bothering me with all formalities and wished me a nice day.

So, what is a girl to do when faced with a crazy day? Go shopping, or course. =) Actually, I do not really like shopping, but since getting back from Iraq I have been wanting to get to Victoria Secret to get some new perfume (I used up all the "Pink" I brought with me and I thought it would be fun to try something different), so that was exactly what I did. Upon leaving the store, I noticed that the alarm went off, but as I was not the only one walking through the doorway and none of the salespeople stopped me, I kept walking. Apparently, the cashier left the security tag on the perfume because after that, I set off the alarms to every store went into. Finally, I decided I should just head back home for the day. So, I had to walk into one last store: Nordestrom. As expected, the alarm sounded. No one seemed to care. I walked out the front door and another alarm went off. I looked at the salesperson at the desk and she waved me on.

You know, some girls attract cat calls as they walk by... Wherever I go I set off the bells and whistles, and attract policemen. Try as I may, sometimes a girl just can't help being FABULOUS! =)

In Any Kind of Light

Cherry blossom season returns again as it does ever year. Everything is decorated in pink, the tourist flock in from the four corners of the earth, and the biggest, most technologically advanced cameras are set up all around the the Tidal Basin. While my own camera is pocket-sized and hardly comparable to half of the ones I saw, I still bring it with me and take pictures of the blossoms and monuments. I have taken pictures of these same trees every year, so this year I decided to try a different style this year. I arrived an hour before the sun rose and had the opportunity to snap a few shots in various degrees of light. There is no better time of day than sunrise!

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If you could, would you?

I have no idea what sparked the conversation topic, but my supervisor asked me if I would do anything differently if I could live my life over. It's not like it's a question I haven't asked myself before, but still, it made me stop and think. I know most people regret not having said or done certain things... I would have to say that my greatest regrets have more to do with things I have said or done and wish I had not. Maybe it is better to just not think about it... but if given the opportunity to redo this past year, I would change a lot. I think that most of my bad decisions stemmed from one decision: to go to Iraq. I'm pretty sure my life would be very different if I had never gone. I would not have had the opportunity to make many of the stupid mistakes I made and would have been available to take a job I wanted, but most importantly, I would have been here for my Grandfather and the rest of my family when they needed me. That is my greatest regret. Knowing what I know now, would I really give it all up? Yeah... as much as I loved my time in Iraq... all the relationships built and amazing things experienced... I think I would.